


it's all rearranging

by buddiebuddie



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: 2x02 coda, M/M, Spoilers, Tarlos - Freeform, these boys are so soft and i am here for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28995468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buddiebuddie/pseuds/buddiebuddie
Summary: "TK’s heart hangs a little heavier in his chest as he steps inside, taking a deep breath as he lets the door close softly behind him. As he glances up, he sees Carlos sitting on the steps, his features dipped in the moonlight pouring through the windows."a missing scene from 2x02
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 58
Kudos: 278





	it's all rearranging

**Author's Note:**

> if i had writing privileges at fox, we would have seen the following tonight. also, the saturation would be turned up
> 
> spoilers for 2x02. title from save us by lennon stella

TK’s heart hangs a little heavier in his chest as he steps inside, taking a deep breath as he lets the door close softly behind him. As he glances up, he sees Carlos sitting on the steps, his features dipped in the moonlight pouring through the windows. His eyes soft, his brows pinched with concern as TK crosses the room to him.

With each step closer to Carlos, TK feels a little bit lighter. And when Carlos’s arms encircle him, he lets out a breath he’d been holding for hours. 

“I’m sorry,” Carlos murmurs, pressing a kiss to TK’s head. 

He tries to ward off the hot tears blurring his vision, screwing his eyes shut and taking a long, shaky breath. He lets out a small sigh that turns into a stifled sob. 

Carlos tightens his grip around TK’s middle, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. His lips taste of ash and shampoo as he leans back, pulling TK into his chest and whispering again, “I’m so sorry.” 

When TK opens his eyes, they’re filled with tears, the first one breaking free and rolling down his cheek as he blinks. “I got you,” Carlos says. “It’s okay.” 

“It’s not,” TK’s voice is small. “I… I was relieved,” he says, his voice breaking on the final word.

“Me too,” Carlos admits. He was just wrapping his shift when he heard the call over the radio: one of the members on scene was down, and it wasn’t looking good. His chest seized up immediately, his pulse pounding in his ears as his grip tightened on the steering wheel of his squad car until his knuckles were as white as his color-drained face. It was only when he heard Tim’s name that the vice grip on his heart relaxed, his breath coming a little easier. 

He instantly felt guilty for it, even more so as the update came in just a moment later that he didn’t make it. The relief that Carlos felt knowing it wasn’t TK was practically palpable, a heavy sigh escaping his chest as he pulled over and dropped his head to the steering wheel. 

TK shakes his head slightly. “I hate myself for it,” he says quietly. “I heard Judd yell for my dad, and then he was running towards them, and all I could…” his voice trails off. Carlos rubs TK’s back reassuringly. 

TK takes a deep breath, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “All I could see when I turned the corner was a turnout coat underneath the flames and I... “ 

“You thought it was your dad,” Carlos whispers. 

TK nods, folding in on himself as the events replay in his mind, as clear as the moment it all happened. His attempt at a deep breath catches in his throat. “Tim’s dead and I felt relieved,” he says, as if he can hardly believe himself. 

Carlos runs his fingers through TK’s hair in an attempt to calm the ongoing battle in his mind, his hushed promise of “It’s okay,” clinging to the air between them. 

“For what it’s worth,” Carlos says a moment later. “I was relieved too.” 

TK looks up at him with wet eyes, sparkling in the glow of the moonlight bouncing off the walls. “That it wasn’t my dad?” 

“That it wasn’t you.” 

TK smiles sadly, leaning in for the kiss he’s been craving all day. The warmth of Carlos’s lips beneath his washes over TK, grounding him instantly. The ache in his chest dissipates, the pain ebbing away like the ocean tide on a December night. 

As Carlos helps him to his feet, a reassuring hand on the small of his back as they head upstairs to crawl beneath the covers, TK realizes it’s the first time he’s felt calm all day.  He rests his head on Carlos’s chest, anchored by the steady beat of his heart, as sleep creeps in. His eyelids grow heavy as Carlos sighs contentedly beneath him, and TK thinks that even if it takes a little while for things to be okay again, this is a pretty good place to start. 


End file.
